Happy ending in search for local man

A second person from the North Island who seemingly disappeared without a trace has been found.

The Missing Persons Unit of the Vancouver Police Department was requesting public assistance to locate Ronnie Henry Sewid who disappeared earlier this month.

Sewid, a 110-lb, 5-ft 7-in First Nations man with brown eyes and long black hair that’s shaved on the sides; however, his family said it’s more likely he shaved his entire head.

He was last seen Dec. 1, about 5:30 p.m. in the Downtown Eastside.

Patricia Dawson Hunt, Sewid’s stepmom, said the missing man — who turned 34 on Tuesday — moved from Campbell River to Fort Rupert about 10 years ago, but was in Vancouver visiting a sick family member when he vanished.

Dawson Hunt said she’s unaware if Sewid has a drug problem, but he does have some other issues.

“He was accidentally shot in the back when he was a teenager living in Campbell River,” she said.

“He still has a limp because of it.”

But that was only the beginning of Sewid’s misfortunes.

“A few years back he was hit in the head with an axe,” said Dawson Hunt.

“He hasn’t been the same since.”

The stepmom said she and her husband haven’t been getting a lot of updates from VPD.

“The only thing we’ve heard is he hasn’t touched his bank account since Dec. 2,” she said.

That changed Tuesday morning when the family was told police spotted the man using an ATM in Vancouver.

Details were slim at press time Tuesday, but it’s believed Sewid is in good condition, said Dawson Hunt.

While police were searching for Sewid, they are still involved in another mysterious disappearance, that of Angeline Eileen Pete who was last heard from in late May.

So far there have been no clues to the whereabouts of the 28-year-old Quatsino First Nation mom of a seven-year-old son.

Members of Pete’s family told the Gazette earlier the missing woman got into a physical altercation with her boyfriend who allegedly punched her and split her lip in front of police officers, who promptly arrested the man.

The family has heard rumours Pete — a 5 ft. 4-in. woman with long, dark hair and brown eyes — was working carnivals on the south island, but have been unable to confirm the stories.

“Tips keep coming in, but they’ve all turned up empty,” Pete’s aunt, Cary-lee Calder, said in an earlier interview.